On 17 September, a day after an 'early doors' meeting leading health trade unionists in Liverpool, Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health, had another breakfast engagement. This time he was at the think tank The King’s Fund where he set out latest Government thinking on health policy for England:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/learn/conferences_and_seminars/past_events_catch_up/breakfast_debate.html
An FT report on the 18 September signalled a shift in Government policy:“NHS organisations are the “preferred provider” of state-funded healthcare and should be given the chance to offer redesigned services before they are put out to tender, the health secretary said on Thursday, in what appeared to be a marked shift in government policy.” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa664852-a3c6-11de-9fed-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
However, the immediate response from Dave Prentis was cautious and rightly so: “Andy Burnham said today that the NHS should be the preferred provider– we want to see that rhetoric turned into reality as a matter of urgency. The sick should be treated as patients not cash units. It is right to acknowledge that health staff are the barometer to the quality of patient care on offer. The views of patients and staff should be key to unlocking funding and to raising standards.” http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1575 See also http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/2009/09/shift-in-policy-on-private-sector.html.
